MH-OZA-NATIONAL GOD

Gujarat-based spiritual leader

Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza Friday said the country should have a

"national God" and maintained he sees Lord Ganesha as the

"rashtra dev".

He said like the national anthem, national symbol and

national animal, the country should also have a "national

God".

Oza, who heads the Porbandar-based Sandipani

Vidyapeeth, was speaking at the 9th Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad

(BCS) organised by the MIT world Peace University and MIT

School of Governance.

"We have national anthem, we have national symbol

and we have national animal also... what we do not have is

national deity. Someone says we are a secular country and how

can we have a national deity when the God I am talking about

is also a secular one," said Oza.

Comparing the characteristics of Lord Ganesha's

appearancewith the leadership of the country, Oza said people

call him Ganapati, but do not understand the inner meaning

behind it.

"Like Lord Ganesha has long ears, the leadership of

the country should also have long ears...it means, the

leadership should have an ability to listen to all.

"In our country, there is a freedom of speech so the

leader should listen to all the people even if he is not

agreeing with some," he said.

He said lord Ganesha has small eyes compare to his

face.

"A leader should possess a strong foresightedness and

he should have a clear sight. Lord Ganesha has a big and

prominent trunk (nose) and it means the leadership should be

respectful and virtuous. Besides, he should have a quality to

sense or smell future things," said Oza.

Explaining the importance of the big belly of the

elephant-headed God, the religious preacher said the

leadership should have a quality to go ahead by keeping all

the secrets with him.

He said Lord Ganesha, who is a symbol of knowledge,

has mouse as his vehicle and it signifies entrepreneurship.

"So when knowledge rides on entrepreneurship, the

wealth (riddhi-siddhi) comes and this is the way, the

development of the nation can be achieved."

He equated mouse with the common people and said it

is a small creature and Lord Ganesha is a huge and bulky deity

but the mouse does not get trampled down under the weight when

Ganapati rides on it.

The spiritual leader said he sees Lord Ganesha as the

"rashtra dev" (national God).

Oza said among all living creatures, human beings are

the most intelligent ones and their energy needs to be

channelled in the right direction.

"Religion (dharma satta), samaj satta (society and

Raj satta (government) are the three forces that can

discipline human beings. Likewise, politics is a mission and

an indispensable part of society," he added.